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Accused killer thought he spoke to Oprah

Anthony Thomas Evans, 33, is accused of murdering Alana Dakin, 33, at their Girawheen home in Perth's north on November 13, 2007.

Evans confessed to the killing during a police interview that was shown to the jury in the WA Supreme Court on Monday but his lawyer argues his client was insane at the time.

On Thursday, Evans' brother Wayne testified about the accused's history of mental illness.

Mr Evans, who is nine years younger than the accused, said he was never close to his brother because they had a "personality difference".

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He said Evans "didn't seem normal" because he would often start ''staring and going into trances'' which was very intimidating and "scary" to him as a 14-year-old.

Mr Evans said his brother thought he was receiving messages from Oprah Winfrey through the television and often made jumbled references to various religions and martial arts.

"He talked about karma as if it was a person," he said.

Mr Evans said his brother also thought satellites were "spying" on everyone and that it was his "duty" to tell people what was happening.

"I couldn't have friends around; it was too embarrassing," he said.

Evans was first hospitalised for his mental illness in 1999.Mr Evans said that as they got older, and his brother's mental health deteriorated, he pulled away from him because he felt helpless and didn't know how to behave around him.

He said the first time he met Ms Dakin was at his father's birthday in April 2007, describing her as "spacey".

"I thought, great, she's just as crazy as he is," Mr Evans said.

The court heard that on the night of Ms Dakin's death, Evans visited the family home and confessed what he had done, telling his brother to take care of their parents.

A psychiatrist for the defence counsel, Dr Lester Walton, told the court that after watching Evans' police interview and talking with him in prison, he concluded that his behaviour was "consistent with schizophrenia".

He said his "deluded thinking" and "diatribe of nonsense" was evidence of someone who had acute psychosis.

Dr Walton said that although Evans was co-operative, he had difficulty giving straightforward answers.

He said Evans had been in and out of hospital for his mental illness since 1999 and had had some traumatic experiences in his life, including the death of close friends and another brother.